


Dreaming of You

by lavacherries



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, Blood, F/F, Flashbacks, Touch-Starved Raven Branwen, if it isn't obvious the character death tag is for summer, vent fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-10
Updated: 2019-06-10
Packaged: 2020-04-23 19:36:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19157590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lavacherries/pseuds/lavacherries
Summary: An angsty Rosebird fic in which Raven visits Summer’s grave and recalls the day of her death.





	Dreaming of You

**Author's Note:**

> This is my take on how Summer died, though it's in an AU I have. Raven only got pregnant with Yang after she had a one night stand with Tai, but before she even found out she was pregnant, she confessed to Summer, who returned her feelings. Eventually Raven found out she was pregnant with Tai's kid, and a little over a year after Yang was born, Summer had Ruby. In this AU Ruby is Summer and Raven's kid. After Summer died, Raven tried to raise Yang and Ruby (who were 6 and 5 at the time), but left them with Tai and disappeared because she didn't feel like she could do it with all the grief she was going through. I wrote this just for the hell of it, basically, though it's kind of a vent fic? Anyway, enjoy, I guess.

Leaves fell from the tree, the wind carrying them as Raven watched from the highest branch. Taiyang was saying a few words to Summer, setting a bouquet of white roses down in front of her grave. From the way his shoulders were shaking, Raven assumed the man was crying. She rolled her eyes, shifting her weight on her perch.

A gust of wind ruffled her feathers, and she squinted against it. When it died down to a gentle breeze, she looked back down at the grave to see Tai turn and walk away, hands shoved into the pockets of those hideous cargo shorts he wore. She decided to wait for a few minutes, before hopping off the branch and gliding through the air, making sure her old teammate was out of sight. When she was sure the coast was clear, she changed back into her human form just above the ground, landing on her feet not a second later.

She walked up to Summer’s grave, staring at it blankly as she stopped right in front of it. Again, the wind kicked up, but this time it was so strong it blew her hair up and into the air above her head, playing with her skirt as well.

Raven ignored the wind, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a necklace. A small white rose charm hung from the black string. She narrowed her eyes as she looked down at it, frowning.

_”Didn’t know you were into jewelry, Raven.” Qrow chuckled._

_“I’m not.” Raven growled, before muttering, “It’s for Summer.”_

_Her brother’s grin only got wider, but to Raven’s surprise, he kept his mouth shut. She sighed in relief, looking back down at the necklace. Tomorrow would mark six years since she and Summer had gotten married, and she had wanted to get her wife something special. Tai, despite their awkward history, had helped her pick a gift out, and she was happy with what they found._

_They were currently on a mission, but at midnight, Raven would take Summer out to their favorite stargazing spot and give her the necklace. She wanted to get a headstart on their anniversary since Summer almost always went overboard and one upped anything Raven did. She’d have to thank Tai again for watching both Yang and Ruby for the weekend. Despite the fact that Ruby wasn’t even his kid, he was always willing to help out with her when Summer and Raven were busy. Raven personally thought it was an excuse to get more time with Yang since she had full custody of their daughter, but Summer insisted Tai was doing it to be nice._

_“Are you two gonna slack off when we find those Grimm, too? Come on, let’s pick up the pace!” Summer called._

_Qrow snorted while Raven rolled her eyes, but the twins sped up anyway. Raven quickly hid the necklace as they neared Summer, wrapping her arm around the shorter woman’s waist the second she was close enough. Summer grinned and pressed a kiss to her cheek in response._

_“Alright, shortstack, what’s the plan? It’s just a bunch of Grimm, right?” Qrow asked, stretching his arms as they walked._

_Summer stuck her tongue out at him before pulling up her map. “You’re right about it just being Grimm, but our employer did have one concern. According to her, most of the Grimm like to hang around this cliffside. All the huntsmen and huntresses that have tried to take this mission on before have had to retreat because of how dangerous the terrain is.”_

_Raven hummed as she looked over the map. “We’ll be fine, we just need to focus on drawing the Grimm away from the cliffs.”_

_“This is our first huge mission without Tai, so I’m a bit worried about how well we’ll be able to handle a bunch of Grimm at once.”_

_Qrow gave her a pat on the back. “Relax, we’ll be alright. Just stay where Raven and I can see you, alright?”_

_Nodding, Summer put her map away. “Right. We should be done by the time it gets dark.”_

Raven sighed, glaring down at Summer’s grave. Without another word, she turned back into a bird and flew off. She flew high into the air, staring ahead while the anger she felt made her chest tight.

It took only five minutes for her to reach the small clearing in a huge forest that she used to visit so often. Memories of gazing up at the sky with her wife flashed through her mind, but she shook her head, preparing to land.

_Slicing an Ursa clean in two, Raven growled in frustration, dodging an attack from a Beowolf not a second later. They had been told there were a ton of Grimm, but she hadn’t expected this many. The moment they killed the first Grimm they saw, they were surrounded out of nowhere. She had been separated from Summer and Qrow within minutes, and every time she tried to change forms and fly away, one of the larger Grimm would hit her and send her crashing back to the ground again._

_By the time she got rid of the Grimm that had cornered her, the sun was beginning to set. She dashed forward just in time to see Qrow getting thrown off the cliff. When he flew back up in his bird form, she sighed in relief and went back to searching for Summer._

_“Raven!” Summer shouted, her voice filled with fear._

_Raven immediately ran towards Summer’s voice, cutting down several Grimm as she went. When she caught sight of her wife, her blood ran cold. The woman was right at the cliff’s edge, surrounded by what had to be at least twenty Beowolves. Qrow was already busy handling a huge Nevermore, so Raven wasted no time flying over to Summer to help fight off the Grimm._

_The two nearly went over the cliff several times, but Raven made sure to grab Summer each time. When the last Beowolf went down, Summer fell to her knees, panting heavily._

_“You okay?” Raven asked, out of breath as well._

_Summer smiled up at her. “Yeah, thanks to you.”_

_Raven smiled back, warmth filling her chest. She stood up, brushed herself off, then picked up her sword. “Come on, Qrow probably needs our help. I only saw a couple Grimm left.”_

_Her wife nodded, standing as well. She turned around to go after Qrow, only to go wide eyed when the Nevermore he’d been fighting let out a screech, shooting its feathers at the two. Both huntresses jumped to the side, and Raven had to shut her eyes to keep dirt out of them when the bird came crashing down, sending dirt, rocks and grass everywhere. When she could finally open her eyes again, she grinned and looked at her brother, who had just landed next to her._

_“Nice work.” She grinned, holding her hand up for a high five._

_When Qrow didn’t react, staring wide eyed at something else, Raven put her hand down. She followed his gaze to where Summer lay on the ground, several Nevermore feathers pinning her to the ground covered in her own blood._

_“SUMMER!!” Raven screamed, sprinting over and falling to her knees beside her._

Raven sat down, leaning against a large dogwood tree. White petals fell from the tree, floating down to the ground around her. The sky was dark now, a few stars out.

She stared up at them, holding her own hand and rubbing her palm with her thumb. A creeping feeling ran over her arms and back, hot and cold at the same time. Raven tried to ignore it, but all she could think about was how her wife’s hands felt like in hers, how it felt when Summer would rub her back or play with her hair.

The ex-huntress looked down at her lap, the phantom feeling of Summer’s head resting there making her eyes sting.

_Summer slowly turned her head to look up at Raven, blood dripping from her mouth. She could barely move with the feathers impaling her on her back near her right hip, between her shoulder blades, her left leg, and the middle of her back, going right through her spine._

_“Rae…..” Summer whispered, her voice strained._

_“Summer, Summer just hold on.”_

_“I can’t move….. I can’t feel anything….”_

_“No, we’ll get you some help, we’ll--”_

_“Raven….” Summer took a moment to breathe, “Raven, I love you. So, so much.”_

_“I love you too, just hold on!”_

_A tear ran down Summer’s cheek. “Rae, take my hand. Please.”_

_Raven, her throat tight, took her wife’s hand in hers, squeezing it tight._

_“Tell Yang and Ruby I love them.”_

_“You can tell them, Summer, just wait!” Raven’s eyes were burning._

_Summer weakly shook her head. “I’m sorry.”_

_“Sorry for what?!”_

_“Sorry I’ll miss our anniversary…. I was planning something great, but….”_

_Raven squeezed her hand tighter. “You aren’t going to miss it, idiot!”_

_Summer opened her mouth to say something again, but her voice never came. Her eyes closed halfway, and her pained gaze turned into a blank stare as her head hit the ground. Raven felt tears running down her face as she stared wide eyed at her wife. She gently touched the back of her hand to Summer’s cheek, then shakily stroked the side of her face. When she didn’t get a response, she took a deep breath, curling in on herself and putting Summer’s hand against her own cheek._

Raven continued to stare up at the stars, the rose necklace now in her hand. Letting out a sigh, she glanced at her scroll to check the time. Right as she did, the numbers changed.

“Looks like it’s midnight.” Raven whispered. “Happy anniversary.”


End file.
